Gingerbread Macarons

Line a cookie sheet with a silicone mat. I highly recommend a silicone mat of some kind, but if you don’t have one then you can also use parchment paper. Set aside.

Using a food processor, pulse the powdered sugar, almond flour, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and cocoa powder until fully combined and rid of lumps. Don’t do this for too long or you will make almond butter. Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. If you don’t have a food processor you can sift the ingredients together.

In a medium bowl, prepare the french meringue. You can use a stand mixer for this, but I prefer a hand mixer or an immersion blender with a whisk attachment for a batch this small. Beat the egg whites on low speed until they get frothy. Increase the speed and slowly add the sugar. If you add the sugar too fast you will deflate the meringue. Beat until stiff peaks form. This is when you pull the beater out and the meringue stands up with a slight curve. It should not fall or jiggle too much if you move the beater. If you want to add food coloring, do it now, but add it sparingly or you will make the meringue too liquidy.

Add the french meringue into the dry ingredients and begin to gently fold with a silicone spatula. This process is called macaronage. You will know the batter is ready when the ingredients are fully combined and not streaky. You should be able to hold the spatula above the bowl and draw a figure 8 smoothly without the batter breaking off. A good way to test if the batter is ready is to place a very small amount in your piping bag and pipe it onto your mat. If the batter is stiff and does not spread at all, then it is not ready. If the batter immediately runs out, then you have over folded. The batter should spread slightly and the tops should even out (there shouldn’t be any little tips sticking out), but it should not be runny.

Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a piping tip. Pipe 1-inch disks onto the prepared cookie sheet.

Firmly tap the cookie sheet onto the counter 3 or 4 times to bring any air bubbles to the surface. Use a toothpick to pop any remaining air bubbles.

Let the gingerbread macarons rest for an hour. There needs to be a dry layer on the top. You should be able to run your finger over the top without any transferring to your finger. If it is really humid outside this process will likely take longer.

Preheat the oven to 280 degrees (F). This is the temperature that I have found works well for my oven, but you may need to play around with the temperature to find what works best for your oven.

Place the macarons on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 5 minutes, rotate the cookie sheet, bake for another 5 minutes and rotate the cookie sheet again, bake for 5 minutes. 15 minutes in total. The macarons should not have any color to them, and they should peel off of the mat easily.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

If the macarons were baked correctly they should easily peel off of the silicone mat

In a medium bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter until it is very soft and creamy. The butter needs to be really soft or your buttercream won’t be as fluffy as it should be.

Add half of the powdered sugar. Beat until fully combined.

Add the rest of the powdered sugar and molasses. Beat on medium speed for 5-6 minutes.

If the buttercream is too thick add the heavy cream or milk, 1 tablespoon at a time until it reaches the desired consistency.

In a small bowl whisk together the powdered sugar and vanilla.

Slowly add the milk and stop when you reach your desired consistency

For Gingerbread Macaron Assembly:

Transfer the American buttercream frosting to a piping bag fitted with a piping tip.

Pipe your desired amount of icing onto the inside of one macaron shell.

Sandwich another macaron shell on top and drizzle you desried amount of icing on top.